Designer kid’s wear the new rage

Much like their counterparts abroad, Indian designers are now catering to all segments

of the market including small kids. New Age designer Raghavendra Rathore who began producing ethnic kids wear for boys a more than a year ago feels the idea is to provide garments for kids that you can’t buy off the street or at other kid’s stores. “We’ve noticed a 15-20 per cent increase in demand every season. The demand for designer kids wear is directly proportionate to the income of the parents,” he opines. Prior to that, Rathore created customized kids wear on order. Similarly Zubair Kirmani launched his kids’ wear collection for boys and girls earlier this year. He says, they have received good feedback and would like to supply more stores. Indeed, they did cut down prices for their first collection but that’s because they have just started doing kids’ wear. Once they produce big volumes, profitability will not be an issue.

Indians are becoming more fashion conscious and even the kids want to follow what their elders follow feels Anupama Dayal who began retailing kids wear two years ago. She showcased her collections in Paris and received a positive response from buyers who placed orders for additional pieces in kids’ sizes. Accordingly the demand is higher for clothes for kids below two and tweens between 8-12 years. The cost of designing clothes for kid’s works out to the same as that for grown-ups and the price points have to be lower for kids. Though prices start from Rs 2,500 and go up to Rs 15,000. The clothes vary across cities. Meanwhile, Rathore is thinking of expanding to four or five areas besides Mumbai and Delhi in the next year and a half. He has also done commercial projects like uniform design for private schools. Rathore believes that fashion today has long ceased to be one theme, one mood, and one idea. Instead, he offers a superb mix of textures, modern fabrics, slinging cuts and a vast color palette that blends the richness of his styles.